The Greening of Gavin

Growing Oyster Mushroom Kits – Results

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About two weeks ago I started growing oyster mushroom kits that I was given by Mr Fothergill’s to trial.  I was hoping to report back that I now have two boxes full of mushrooms, but it looks like the fickle finger of fungi fate struck again!  Only one of the two kits actually grew some mushrooms.

I was hoping to report back that I now have two boxes full of mushrooms, but it looks like the fickle finger of fungi fate struck again!  Only one of the two kits actually grew some mushrooms.

They both started out looking promising, however at about day 7 the Golden Oyster Mushrooms shrivelled and stopped growing.

But the good news is that the Pearl Oyster mushrooms grew rapidly and are ready to pick!

Have a look at the video I produced during the growing process; https://youtu.be/5n5gx9B8kTo



I think it may have had something to do with the way the Golden Oyster mushroom substrate floated on Day 1.  It may not have been soaked with water enough, but this wasn’t specified in the instructions.

Tomorrow, I am going to resoak the Golden Oyster Mushroom substrate again, this time placing a weight on top to hold it down for the first 24 hours.  This should kick it back into action.  I will take a few more photos over coming days to see if it works.  I would hate to throw away a perfectly good mushroom kit.

Then I will take a few more photos over coming days to see if it works.  I would hate to throw away a perfectly good mushroom kit.

So there you go.  My first success growing oyster mushroom kits!  Once the Pearl Oysters have finished growing, I am going to resoak that substrate as well to see if I can get another flush.  The instructions suggest that this is possible, so I might get two flushes of mushrooms for the price of one.

Have any of you tried this type of kit?  What were your results?

How to Plant Garlic

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Planting garlic is also easy that it’s criminal if you don’t give it a go.  So in this post let’s learn how to plant garlic!

In my climate zone, (heat zone 4, cold zone 10), I plant just after the first full moon in May or June.  I find that the soil is still just cool enough so that the garlic shoots quickly and gets a good start.

When I plant garlic, I source the bulbs from a good seed supplier, in my case, the Diggers Club.  This year I bought a variety pack of three types of garlic;  Tassie Purple, Dunganski, and Lokalen.

When preparing the bed for planting, don’t add any fertiliser to the bed if you did so in the summer. You will get more leaves and smaller bulbs. Plant the garlic in a bed that you had a very hungry crop before hand, like Brassica or tomatoes.  But make sure that you add some organic fertilizer as a top-dressing in spring to give them a boost.

Check out the video I made to show you how to plant garlic; https://youtu.be/-Oe3-ABuD6M


Make a hole with your dibber (I use a bit of old sawn off broom handle or my index finger) about 2″ deep (5 cm) and then place each clove in the hold pointy end facing upwards. Plant them about 6″ (15 cm) apart, so that you get good-sized bulbs. The closer they are to each other the smaller the bulbs.

How to plant garlic; Planting Australian Purple Garlic

Don’t backfill until all your garlic cloves are in the soil. You will lose sight of where you planted them otherwise!

Backfill the holes and water well. Within about 4-6 days they will send up the first green shoots through the soil. All you need to do is keep the soil moist for the rest of the season, and keep the bed weed free.

Easy peasy!  If you haven’t grown garlic before, why not try it this year.  It’s not too late!

How to Plant Snow Peas

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Snow peas are very easy to grow in the suburban garden.  You just need some trellis or old branches for them to cling to as they grow and some well composted soil.  Just keep the soil moist as they grow, which at this time of year is not difficult.  Plant snow peas in the cooler seasons and germinate at soil temperatures between 8° – 20°C (46° – 68°F).  Here in our temperate zone they are best sown from April to September.

A few rows is all you need to keep you supplied with delicious sweet snow peas for a few months of the year.  Succession planting will ensure a longer crop.

Snow peas, along with sugar snap peas and unlike field and garden peas, are famous for having edible pods that lack inedible fiber and taste sweet and crisp.  The pea pods are best picked when still flat, before the main seeds start to swell.

Snow peas also host beneficial bacteria, rhizobia, in their root nodules, which fix nitrogen in the soil.  They are great companion plant, so try growing leafy greens like kale or chard (silverbeet) in close proximity.  They will benefit from the additional nitrogen.

If saving the seed for your next crop, let a few of the pods mature and dry on the plant.  Pick when brown and the seeds are round and hard.  Store in an airtight jar to prevent them from absorbing moisture or going mouldy.  The seeds will keep for up to 5 years.  Don’t forget to label them with the year that you collected them.  I slip a little bit of paper into the jar with the date and type of seed it contains so that I don’t have to guess next year.

Who said that food gardening was hard?  Go on, what are you waiting for?  Get outside and plant snow peas this week!